Blue Jays 40-man Roster Review: Adam Macko will start the 2025 season with the Bisons

Adam Macko is one of the Toronto Blue Jays top pitching prospects.

This is Blue Jays Nation’s annual 40-man Roster Review, where we look at the players on the Blue Jays’ 40-man roster. We’ll look at how the player performed in 2024, his season projections for the 2025 season, and any storylines heading into this coming season. In this article, we’ll look at Adam Macko.

Macko is a Slovakian-born, Irish-raised left-handed pitcher who attended high school in Vauxhall, Alberta. The Seattle Mariners selected him in the seventh round of the 2019 draft and he made his debut the same year, posting a 3.09 ERA and a 3.83 FIP in 23.1 innings pitched between Rookie ball and Low A.

In 2021, he pitched in Single-A, where he had a 4.59 ERA and a 3.33 FIP in 33.1 innings pitched, along with a 36.1 K% and a 13.5 BB%. Macko’s final season in the Mariners organization, 2022, saw him post a 3.99 ERA and a 3.77 FIP in 38.1 innings pitched in High-A, along with a 35.9 K5 and a 12 BB%.

In mid-November, he and Erik Swanson were traded to the Blue Jays for Teoscar Hernández. Macko’s first season in the Jays’ organization was alright, as he posted a 4.81 ERA and a 3.97 FIP in 86 innings pitched, with a 28.5 K% and a 10.8 BB%. The key to his season was staying healthy and dropping his walk rate, and he achieved both.

Macko spent most of the 2024 season in the upper minors, say for three rehab appearances with the Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays. Overall, he had a 4.63 ERA and a 3.96 FIP in 93.1 innings pitched, with a 26.9 K% and a 9 BB%

As for his projections, Fangraphs’ Steamer has him posting a 4.10 ERA and a 4.34 FIP in 26 innings pitched, with a 21.2 K%. Macko’s worst projection is from OOPSY, who has him posting a 4.52 ERA and a 4.72 FIP in 24 innings pitched, while ATC has him posting a 4.19 ERA and a 4.36 FIP in 28 innings pitched.

The storyline surrounding Macko is that he’ll likely start the season in Triple-A Buffalo. Depending on how well his season goes, Macko could earn a spot on the Blue Jays pitching staff later in the season, whether in the rotation or in the bullpen. The Jays don’t have a whole lot of starting pitching depth, so if there are injuries, we could see his call-up sooner rather than later.